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Hilbert Announces New Board Members

HAMBURG, N.Y. –Phillip Catanese, Sister Marcia Ann Fiutko, FSSJ, and Lorraine Hritcko have been named to the Hilbert College Board of Trustees. Ronald Soluri, Sr. and Ann Swan have had their terms on the Hilbert Board extended.

Phillip Catanese returns to the Hilbert Board, he previously served as a trustee at the college from 2002-10, serving as the Vice Chair from 2008-10 and Secretary from 2003-07. Catanese is Vice President of Corporate Relations at The Buffalo News, having previously worked in various executive capacities in the retail food industry for more than 25 years. Active in the community, Catanese is on the Board for the Olmstead Center for the Visually Impaired and is on the advisory Boards for the Hillside Work Scholarship Program and the WNY Food Bank. He was previously on the Board for Homespace. Catanese received an associate’s degree in business from Bryant & Stratton.

Sister Marcia Ann Fiutko, FSSJ, has been a professed member of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph for 39 years and currently serves on the Leadership Team of her Congregation as Associate General Minister, and also serves as the House Minister for their Motherhouse, Immaculate Conception Convent, located across the street from Hilbert College. She is an active member of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, has served on the boards of Immaculata Academy, Marycrest Manor and Marycrest Heights and, is currently a member of the Buffalo Diocesan Pastoral Council. She served for 25 years in Catholic Education as a teacher, principal, and campus minister at St. Sebastian School in Dearborn Heights, MI, Immaculata Academy in Hamburg, NY, St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, NY, and St. Stanislaus School in Chicopee, MA. Prior to being elected to Congregational leadership, Sister Fiutko served for 10 years as pastoral associate at St. Peter’s R.C. Church in Lewiston, NY.

Lorraine Hritcko (Ritz-koh) is currently Director, Global Software Sales at Conning in Hartford, Conn. Her career journey began after earning her MBA at Binghamton University in 1986 and she was recruited by Aetna in Hartford, CT where she began a three-year executive development program with a focus on human resources. At the conclusion of the program, Hritcko was promoted to the head of human resources for the Corporate Communications Division, which included public relations, speech writing, graphic design, a state-of-the-art television studio, and a 200-person print shop. She followed that with promotions to human resources for the Investment Division and head of communications for the Investment Division. Hritcko managed communications with external rating agencies and with the Investment Committee of the Board of Directors on Aetna's investment performance during the financial crisis of the late 1980s - early 90s. In 1998, she was promoted to the Y2K Project for Aetna International, which had 26 businesses in 18 countries, where she travelled significantly, logging 800,000 miles in 18 months. In 2000, Hritcko was promoted to the position of Chief of Staff for both the Chairman and CEO/President of Aetna International. After leaving Aetna, she was hired by the Insurance Division of SunGard, where she spent eight years working throughout North America, Europe, South America and Asia. Prior to her start at Conning in March 2011, she spent three years at Towers Watson. Hritcko is a 1981 graduate of Hilbert’s paralegal studies program.

Ronald Soluri, Sr. has served many years on the Hilbert College Board of Trustees and served as Chair of the board’s audit/finance committee. Soluri is the Managing Director of Freed Maxick, CPAs P.C. Freed ranks number one in Buffalo Business First’s list of Buffalo CPA firms, and is in the top 100 firms nationally. Soluri’s primary responsibility is management of the Firm’s four offices in Buffalo, Rochester, Batavia and Syracuse, as well as various consulting, accounting, and auditing engagements. He has 41 years of experience in accounting and taxation including acquisitions, sales, and contract negotiations.

A community leader in many civic activities in the Western New York area and a longtime teacher in the Buffalo Public Schools, Ann Swan serves as executive director of the William E. and Ann L. Swan Foundation. Swan served as chairperson of Hilbert’s board from 2010-13. She has been affiliated with Hilbert’s board since 2004 and has chaired the executive committee twice, as well as served as chair and vice chair of the student affairs committee, and was a member of the institutional advancement committee. Swan received the President’s Medal, one of the college’s highest honors, at Hilbert’s 51st annual commencement ceremony in 2012.

Hilbert College, located in suburban Hamburg, N.Y., south of Buffalo, is a private four-year college founded in 1957 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition. With nearly 1,100 students, Hilbert is a dynamic Western New York college that offers career-focused majors, including one of the top criminal justice programs in the region, and more than 50 minors and concentrations. The college’s engaging, student-centered campus community offers numerous leadership, internship, and service learning opportunities from which students launch successful careers while making positive changes in their communities. The Hilbert Blueprint promotes a well-rounded student experience over four years – starting with the Foundations Seminar in the freshman year, followed by Sophomore Service, Junior Symposium, and culminating with the Senior Capstone. Hilbert has expanded its academic offerings with the college’s first graduate programs and new Accelerated Degree Programs geared to adult learners.